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ISS Pro Evolution 2
ISS Pro Evolution 2 (known as World Soccer Jikkyou Winning Eleven 2000: U-23 Medal Heno Chousen in Japan) is the fourth video game in the ISS Pro series and the second installment of the ISS Pro Evolution series, developed exclusively for the PlayStation by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, a division of Konami it was available in Europe and Japan but not available in North America due to the previously released enhanced remake version of the previous entry in the series, ISS Pro Evolution, retitled ESPN MLS GameNight with MLS licenses. It is the first ISS Pro game with proper licenses, although partial, some players having real names — e.g. Beckham instead of Bekham (ISS Pro Evolution). The game has an extended Master League, with 2 divisions and eight more clubs, resulting in a total of twenty four club teams, such as Leeds United and River Plate. More international teams have been added as well. Next to these additions, the gameplay has changed, as it is smoother and more realistic. The Japanese version of the game contains Under-23 National Teams as well due Japan U-23 having qualified for the final round at the Sydney Olympics, as well as Australia's Under-23 National Football Team which is not present in the Europe versions of the game. Game Description This is the sequel to ISS Pro Evolution which itself was released in North America and Europe about a year ago. Programmed by Konami's KCET team, ISSPE2 (also known as Winning Eleven 2000 U23 Medal heno Chousen in Japan) improves upon its brilliant predecessor in almost every aspect and sets the standard for soccer games to come. In ISSPE the franchise-like Master League consisted of one 16-team division comprised of European club teams. KCET have now added 8 more teams (including two South American teams) and a second division. The featured teams are Liverpool, Manchester United, Leeds, Arsenal, Chelsea, Juventus, Inter, Lazio, Fiorentina, Milan, Parma, Roma, West Ham, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Valencia, Monaco, Marseille, Ajax, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, River Plate, and Vasco de Gama. The inclusion of mediocre West Ham is incredibly puzzling, and I would much rather have seen Deportivo, Schalke, PSV, or Boca Juniors featured instead. There are 8 teams in Division 2, and 16 teams in Division 1. You start in Division 2, and as you've probably guessed by now you have to finish in the top two in Division 2 to get promoted up to Division 1, while the bottom two teams in Division 1 get relegated down to Division 2. The club teams in each division can be chosen randomly by the CPU, or you can allocate the teams yourself. The rosters for both the club and international teams are accurate up till about Euro 2000. This is a shame because you still have Alan Shearer captaining England, Luis Figo is still with Barca, Aimar is still playing for River, and Batigol isn't yet playing for Roma; to mention a few of the disappointments. Thankfully, the authenticity in the player models, team formations, strategies, and the way individual players behave more than make-up for the dated rosters. Just as in ISSPE players and teams behave just like their real-life counterparts; when you play Brazil both Roberto Carlos and Cafu terrorize you down the wings, while Zidane and Davids dominate in Juve's midfield. Finally, there are a plethora of pre-game options, such as setting the length of halves, the weather conditions, time of day, stadium, difficulty and kit clashing. You can also now make substitutions at the end of halves and whenever there is a stoppage of play as opposed to ISSPE where you had to announce the substitution before the stoppage of play occurred. Also returning is the Edit Mode where you can adjust the player's names and attributes, and you can also create players and assign them to teams. You can also now buy created players for your Master League team. The ability to save replays also makes a return, however I just wish the replay buffer was longer because the intricate build-up to goals is often just as impressive as the finish. Manufacturer Description ISS Pro Evolution 2 is packed full of improvements. Matches are now even more fluid and true to life. Pitches are bigger and player movements much more comprehensive, giving the feeling of amazingly open gameplay. Characters have even more skills at their disposal, but shooting and passing now comes down to competence of the player. Features * New chip shots feature * Cancel pass action * Realistic injuries * Choose your captain * New formation data manager with 15 save spots and a much improved algorithm (the key to player's movement). * New format for All-Star teams * Contains 16 U-23 Teams from Sydney Olympics (not included on Europe versions) Game modes *Match Mode (Exhibition and Penalty Kick). *League Mode. *Cup Mode - Regional U-23 or International Cup competition.(U-23 Cup not include on Europe versions) *Master League - 25 teams spread over two divisions. *Practice Mode *Edit players, change a players nationality, view the trophy gallery and tweak your controller. Reception Critical The game received highly positive reviews from critics, scoring 95/100 on Metacritic, Gibbons of BBC Sport gave the game 94% citing that "ISS Pro Evolution 2 is the finest football game the world has ever seen and It's OK for a little run-around kind of football game, but if you want to enjoy the intricate skills of our national game, This game is the fan's only real choice." The game received 92% by Abosolute-PlayStation. In the final issue of the Official UK PlayStation Magazine, the game was chosen as the best PlayStation game of all time. Gideon Kibblewhite of GamesRadar+ gave the game Direct Hit citing that "The best football sim in the world just got better. Amazingly. In a subtle, magical sort of way. So forget about FIFA and all those other two penny outfits that flatter to deceive - they're not even in the same league." However Swedish video game magazine Super PLAY gave the game 7 out of 10 citing that "In summary, it is possible to say that ISS Pro Evolution 2 is another step away from the layout once made International Superstar Soccer so unique. Although it is not visible in the graphics, Konami knows how to fully utilize PlayStation's capacity. Both the control and the artificial intelligence hold a very high class. But if it's realistic football game that Konami wants to do, they should still think about bringing more club teams. And then they must learn to spell the names of the players. M-E-L-L-B-E-R-G, light as a spot." Sales According to the Japanese magazine Famitsu ISS Pro Evolution 2 sold a total of 362,989 units in Japan by the end of 2000, making it the 21st best-selling game of the year in the country. See Also * ISS Pro * ISS Pro 98 Category:Official Games Category:PlayStation Games Category:International Superstar Soccer series